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The Ell Hotel hosted a fundraiser for the Open Door Women’s Shelter capital campaign on Sunday, Mar. 9. The campaign is raising funds for the 3,000-square-foot expansion at the current facility. The Harriet Tubman tea tribute featured a skit with Leesa Jones, curator of the Washington Underground Railroad Museum, who was dressed in the historic clothing of the time, and Lisa Northway, a U.S. Army Chaplain from Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Ms. Achievement North America 2025.

“Northway would read something related to Tubman, and she would ask Harriet Tubman (portrayed by Jones) to get up and explain it to us,” said Doreen Trottier, Board Director of the Open Door Women’s Shelter. “We also tried to serve tea as it would have been done during the time of Tubman, which meant serving it with butter as she must not have had milk or cream. We also had little jars of honey, which were provided by local beekeeper Sharon Schroeder. The food was catered by Carryout by Chrislyn’s. Everyone seemed to have a fabulous time.”

Trottier added that they are getting close to breaking ground for the expansion project. “Local contractor Brad Horton has been hired to do the work,” said Trottier. “We are just waiting on one or two more permits to be issued. We hope to be able to put the first shovel in the ground by the end of March or the first part of April.”